Last week I had the opportunity to have breakfast at the Kreb’s Senior Citizens Center. It amazes me to see so many people getting out so early for a good breakfast and fellowship. Meetings like this solidify my belief that we must continue to fund these senior nutritional centers.
Also, I had some good news from the Oklahoma Tax Commission pertaining the renewal process for sales tax exemption cards for farmers and ranchers. Last session I ran House Bill 1682 that would have stopped the requirement of submitting an IRS Schedule F form in order to renew this tax exemption card, which was an OTC rule change. This session, I have filed House Bill 3466, which states if there is no change then farmers would simply check a box and their card is renewed. HB 3466 was heard this past Monday in the House Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee on Finance, Revenue and Taxation. It passed and was sent on to be heard in the full House A&B Committee. If it passes there, it would hopefully be heard on the floor. Earlier this month, the OTC sent a memo to local assessors stating that if no change is noted, they could simply check a box to renew. I will pursue this bill to place this rule into statute to protect from future swings on this subject.
This week, most of my work is focusing on getting bills heard in committee and passed onto being heard on the floor. I have five bills being heard this week with commitments for an additional two to be heard next week. One last bill I’m not sure whether it will be heard or not.
I also had a request as to why Buffalo Valley Schools did not receive any funding through our “Redbud” grant process. Redbud grants were awarded only to school districts that receive below-average funding from annual local tax revenue. I’ll be looking into local collections for Buffalo Valley to make sure the State Department of Education has correct calculations.
I’m still continuing to work on American Recue Plan Act funding for various projects in House District 17. This is a process where I have five requests in. Hopefully within this year we can hear which of these are funded and which didn’t make the cut. I understand the requests exceed the funding at a rate of approximatively $10 dollars of request for every dollar of funding available.
As always, thank You for allowing me to serve you. I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@okhouse.gov.
- Jim Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and parts of LeFlore and Pittsburg counties.